UNCA professor causes stir with Lincoln photo

10:27 PM,
Sep. 23, 2013

Civil War photo historians in 2007 identified a man on a horse as Abraham Lincoln in this image shot at the Gettysburg cemetery dedication ceremony in 1863. UNCA professor Christopher Oakley says he has found Lincoln elsewhere in the photo - near the speaker stand from which the president delivered the Gettysburg Address - and that the man on the horse has epaulets on his jacket and long hair, meaning he could not be Lincoln.

Written by

Greg Toppo

Six years ago, amateur historian John Richter rocked the world of Civil War scholars when he downloaded a series of digital photos showing the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery on Nov. 19, 1863, at Gettysburg, Pa.

In the sea of pixelated faces, Richter found a blur that looked like President Abraham Lincoln on horseback, saluting the troops as he arrived to deliver his famed Gettysburg Address. Historians celebrated the find, calling it only the second photo ever of Lincoln at Gettysburg.

On the cusp of the speech's 150th anniversary, historians are again talking about the ...